Foreign Property News | Posted by Shwe Zin Win
Frasers Property is betting on the UK’s tech sector as it adds another commercial asset to its Great Britain portfolio, according to an announcement today to the Singapore stock exchange by the developer controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.
The developer has signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Lakeshore, a business park in suburban London, for £135 million ($177.44 million), according to the statement, with Mingtiandi having identified the seller as UK private investment bank Evans Randall.
Frasers will be adding the property’s 272,000 square feet (25,270 square metres) of lettable area to its existing set of six UK business parks, as the Singapore-based firm continues to seek out European property assets.
Frasers is funding the purchase of the office complex in Bedfont Lakes, Feltham, Middlesex from its own internal resources, according to the statement, with the purchase price equal to £496 per square foot of lettable area.
The three building freehold property is leased on a long-term basis to networking giant Cisco Systems, which uses the business park as its UK headquarters campus.
Evans Randall, which has invested in such high profile UK projects as the Gherkin in the City of London and 5 Canada Square on Canary Wharf, had purchased the Lakeshore in 2006 for £156 million, in what was then a record deal.
The purchase of the Lakeshore, which is located just over 20 miles (32 kilometres) west of central London along the Great South-West Road, comes over two years after Frasers bought a set of five business parks near London and Glasgow for £686 million.
In purchasing that set of properties from US fund manager Oaktree Capital Management, Frasers CEO Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi commented at the time that, “The Acquisition is in line with the Group’s strategy to grow overseas presence and recurring income sources.”
Ref: Property Report
